MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[WoosterFAN]

It is late and I just came in from hunting for Bambi's Mom and Dad... I will post more later.

After a quick review of the updates on Wooster's Website and posts of course I am exciting about the season coming up!  I always am very excited.  Any team that returns 8 of top 9 players should be anxiou to get the season started.

I have not seen too many Batisistta updates.  I guess previously unheralded frosh Craig Elam will help in the post.  But I was hoping that the MI Center would live up to the hype.  And of course I am still concerned about a imposing schedule.  More to follow.

[MoneyBallSTL]

Just saw this weekend that Wooster opponent Georgetown out of Kentucky played Louisville tough. Yes, that's Rick Pitino's Louisville, I believe the final in an exhibition between the 2 teams was 96-92 in favor of the Cardinals. Let's hope the Scots don't take any early season matchups lightly because this could be the toughest non-conf. schedule the Scots have seen in the 2000's.

[ScotsFan]

fighting_scots,

Thanks for the update on the scrimmage.  Just a question.  You mentioned Elam as being the only frosh who saw pt.  I was wondering who the Scots rotated at the point guard position.  After hearing good things about Moltz, I thought he might be a candidate to come off the bench to give B. Johnson a rest.  Who ran the point when Johnson was on the bench?

[imderekpoe]

fighting_scots,

Thanks for the update on the scrimmage.  Just a question.  You mentioned Elam as being the only frosh who saw pt.  I was wondering who the Scots rotated at the point guard position.  After hearing good things about Moltz, I thought he might be a candidate to come off the bench to give B. Johnson a rest.  Who ran the point when Johnson was on the bench?

Cooper ran point when Johnson was on the bench. 

I'm not sure that I would read too much into the fact that Elam was the only freshman that saw playing time with the regulars.  I understand that there is a rule that players can only participate in 3 pre-season scrimmages.  With the freshman scrimmage yesterday morning they have a total of 4, so the frosh were split up.  There were several other freshman that played in a 15-minute scrimmage after the main event against Ott.  I think that we'll see a more representative rotation against Ashland and the alums this week.

[Gregory Sager]

FYI, Georgetown KY, whom Wooster hosts on Nov. 28th, nearly knocked of Louisville last night in an exhibition at Freedom Hall.  The final score was 94-92.  The write-up I read about the game mentioned that Georgetown has 7 DI transfers on their roster. 

Ah, there's nothing like the good ol' NAIA. 

[WoosterFAN]

Yes, Georgetown looked good against Louisville, giving them all that they could handle.  Georgetown is preseason #7 in NAIA Division I.
U of L played 13 players but only 7 got double figure minutes and 2 others got 9 minutes.  G'town played 9 and four guys fouled out guarding the UofL bigs.  They shot 27 3's hitting 8-16 in the second half to stay in the game.  Pitino stated that his team played lousy defense and had poor execution on offense and they did not start star freshman post player or play him much.

G'town does have seven DI transfers from Houston, Temple, Miami(OH), UNLV, S.Carolina St, Wright St and TN Tech.  Transfers also come from KY Weslyan and NKU.  Yikes, by far I think this is the toughest opponent on the schedule this year. 
At least we have them at HOME.

I am especially anxious this year over how the big men will develop.  The pressure defense and wide open full court style is not good for my hyper tension or good in the NCAA tourament so I hope our bigs will develop over the season to contribute in the half court offense and defense.

[seinfeld]

I see D3Hoops.com has posted its preseason All-American team. Cooper is 1st team. Interesting that Tom Port is not on the team. He was 4th team All-American at the end of last year, so to drop off the list this year doesn't make a lot of sense. I wonder if they missed the fact that he is back this year, since he was listed as a senior last year. Welton from Aurora was 5th team All-American last year at forward, but is now 2nd team.

[David Collinge]

Congratulations also to Wittenberg's Dane Borchers, selected as a preseason All-American, 4th team.

I can assure you that the staff at D3Hoops.com is fully aware that Tom Port will be playing this year.

[ScotsFan]

Interesting that Tom Port is not on the team. He was 4th team All-American at the end of last year, so to drop off the list this year doesn't make a lot of sense.

Seinfeld, you're right, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  I could understand if there were a lot of underclassmen at the forward position ahead of Port, but Tori Davis of B-WC and Brandon Adair of VWU were the only non-seniors at the forward postition ahead of Port in last years post-season All-America teams.  It doesn't make much sense that Larry Welton of Aurora would go from HM All-America at the end of last season to 2nd team pre-season All-American while Port goes from 4th team All-American (ahead of Welton) to being left off the pre-season All-American teams altogether.  Oh well, it's making the post season All-America team that really counts anyways.

[goscots]

Wooster played Ashland University tonight in a scrimmage. Just in case some of you don't know, AU is Division II. This was a very up tempo game with both teams running it up and down the floor. At one time in the middle of the first half I think there were about 8 possessions in one minute of play with not alot of scoring.

Wooster took a lead early (14-7) but then Ashland came back to tie it late in the first and the halftime score was 39-37 Wooster.  Cooper and Fulk were cold in the first half but the front line looked good.

In the second half it stayed close for about 10 minutes before Wooster started pulling away when AU couldn't hit from the outside and Wooster did. Lead got to about 18 before it settled at 96-81 (maybe wrong about the lower score). 

The only freshman to play in the game was Elam and he did OK.  This was a good scrimmage for Wooster because AU was bigger and very athletic but Woosters depth prevailed in the end.

[woosterbooster]

I'm pretty sure the final score was 96-84.  At any rate, I remember mentally noting that Wooster won by 12.

The Scots looked pretty much as expected.  Tom Port seems to be back to his pre-injury form, getting into the paint more with nice moves for short jumpers.  Brandon Johnson ran the point well and was able to occasionally beat his man off the dribble.  Fulk's shot was off at first but then he found the range.  Evan Will didn't do much offensively but crashed the boards hard.  Tim Vandervaart "Vandervaart'ed" defenders inside with his lateral quickness and persistent spin moves.  Andy Van Horn and Marty Bidwell were their normal pesky selves, generally running amok and creating havoc, in a good way, as only those two can do.  (At one point, Bidwell appeared to commit about four fouls in two seconds, on the same guy, had none of them called, and his man, frazzled, was whistled for travelling.)  James Cooper had some trouble shooting and breaking down his man, but on the defensive end looked much improved.

It appears, at least early on, that none of the freshmen will get many minutes in the normal rotations.  Tonight only Elam saw the floor, with maybe four minutes or so in each half.  Backup point guard responsibility seems to be in James Cooper's hands, at least for the moment.

I have it from a semi-reliable source ( ) that Saturday's alumni team will include former Scot standouts Bryan Nelson, Antoine Reynolds, Rodney Mitchell, and Kyle Witucky, among others.  Sounds like fun.

[billy_pilgrim]

I feel very out of the loop, but here's what I do know about Earlham this season. First, I thought the preseason #4 spot in both polls was a little high. I had anticipated #5 or #6. Of course, it proves that those really are, in most cases, a reflection of last year's finish.

Earlham loses Brandon Miller and Tyler Stewart to graduation. Miller's skills were very well known, while Stewart was a steady ball handler who also hit big shots now and again (OWU at the buzzer last year). Oh, and of course, Earlham also lost Bronson Lickliter...whose great story of coming back to earn his masters degree and play one last year was chronicled in the Indy Star. By the way, Lickliter is now coaching at New Castle and the Trojans are one of the finalists to be featured on MTV's Two-a-Days basketball reality show. I'd love to see Bronson on MTV...especially if he were to sing Tom Waitts tunes while inebriated (not saying I've seen it, but I've seen it).

It was a good retention year for Earlham standards. The only player not back this year is Kyle Edwards, who was very little used post player last year as a freshman. Jewett and Henry should shoulder the scoring load, while Tristian Gregory should provide the 3-point threat that EC has lacked the last couple years.

Big man Nick Welsh is also back, and hopefully healthy, after missing much of last season with a stress fracture. Terrel Brown and Joe Rihm will eat minutes once they come back from playing football.

I'm hoping for big things from Neil Collins. I've always thought he's shown promise, but has been hurt by inconsistency. He might be the starter on opening night against DePauw.

I don't know much about the freshmen, but the ones to watch are Tarell Berry and Dereck Briggs...they are both nice athletes. Briggs, at 6-8 (and he can move), could see a ton of early playing time.

Quakers open next Friday at a tournament at the University of Chicago. They'll play DePauw in the first game...it should be a competitive weekend.

Roster and schedule linked below:

http://www.earlham.edu/athletics/content/sports/men/basketball/2006-07/roster/index.html

http://www.earlham.edu/athletics/content/sports/men/basketball/2006-07/schedule/index.html

[whoknows]

OWU looked very good tonight in their scrimmage against Otterbein despite the final score. they were very physical and took OTT out of their game early, even getting up by as much as 12 but the second half was different. Ott came back and really steped it up from the inside. I think OWU getting some votes in the national poll is a little premature. Ott big man was real tough and i think will turn some heads on the national level (despite is skinny stature). I did not nottice any 6'8" kid for OWU but with their physical size and the ability of their big men to shoot from outside they will do some damage in the league. I could see them beating out Witt in the league for second place. Even though they lost tonight they really impressed me.

[woosterbooster]

Now THAT was fun!

Tonight's Alumni Scrimmage at Wooster, the first that I've attended, was well worth the price - ok, wait, there was no charge - heck, it was just a great event!

Although the Alumni team dropped the game 120-80, it was much closer than that most of the way.  Spearheading the effort of the grads were Bryan Nelson and Ryan Gorman, two of the best inside players in Wooster history.  Both proved that they not only were capable of playing in this sort of contest, but could, if they had any eligibility left, return and once again be stars in the NCAC.  It was a special treat to not only see them in action, but to see their skills, if not their wind, virtually intact.

Wooster's normal halftime faire, a dance troupe called Personal Foul, was not in attendance.  A backup group began forming in the stands but saner heads prevailed upon them to not take the court... 

Alright, bring on the Cabrini Canucks or whoever they are.  Let's get this special season on the road!

[WooMix]

Now THAT was fun!

Tonight's Alumni Scrimmage at Wooster, the first that I've attended, was well worth the price - ok, wait, there was no charge - heck, it was just a great event!

Although the Alumni team dropped the game 120-80, it was much closer than that most of the way.  Spearheading the effort of the grads were Bryan Nelson and Ryan Gorman, two of the best inside players in Wooster history.  Both proved that they not only were capable of playing in this sort of contest, but could, if they had any eligibility left, return and once again be stars in the NCAC.  It was a special treat to not only see them in action, but to see their skills, if not their wind, virtually intact.

Wooster's normal halftime faire, a dance troupe called Personal Foul, was not in attendance.  A backup group began forming in the stands but saner heads prevailed upon them to not take the court... 

Alright, bring on the Cabrini Canucks or whoever they are.  Let's get this special season on the road!

Did any of the freshmen kids play?  If they did, how good were they?